Holiday Theatre for Kids — Giants, Dwarves, Bustles, and More….

Special theatre memories pop up around this time of year. For several decades, the Women’s Board of our community theatre produced shows for children (with a bit of humor injected for the adults who bring the kids to the theatre). Most often these were stories based on good old standard fairy tales. As with all live theatre, the on-stage and backstage stories go on and on, providing years of fond memories and abundant laughs.

Theatre for kids involves larger than life characters and lots of action (chase scenes and the like). The magic is there for us all!!

A recent chat with a friend got me thinking of the types of things that made these shows so delightful. He recalled playing the hunter in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. During one performance, when his 4-year old nephew was in the audience, he walked out on stage and heard the small voice, “Hi, Uncle Dave!” He almost dropped his gun. For me, this kicked off another memory about that particular show. (I worked on the sound crew.) The young lady who played Goldilocks happened to be the daughter of a co-worker of mine, Kathy, an intake caseworker for child protective services. So….one day I called in a report (designated for Kathy) on a little girl who was breaking into houses, eating the food, and hanging out with wild animals. It brought a bit of humor to the intake department.

I was in charge of props for “The Wizard of Oz”. The stage manager and backstage crew had an exciting moment when the Wicked Witch of the West snagged her dress on a cauldron containing dry ice and inadvertently flung the smoking contents all over the stage. The next scene was supposed to be in the forest with no mist, so we props folks were scrambling to figure out how to get the substance cleaned up as there was no curtain in between scenes. The witch’s quick-thinking flying monkeys, already equipped with scrub brushes and buckets as well as gloved hands, deftly handled it by scrubbing the dry ice particles into the buckets and carrying it offstage on their exit. (Thank you, ringleader Julie!) All’s well that ends well! Whew! And the actors always greeted the children in the lobby after the performance, another aspect of the fun. My husband, who sported a full beard, played Captain Verdo, the green-bearded guard outside the Emerald City, so he spray-painted his beard green. Interesting how many kids are inclined to yank on a beard to prove it’s fake. (Owwwww…..!)

The first time I ended up with a speaking role on stage was in “Jack and the Beanstalk”. I was the head of the Christmas show committee so was assisting the director with auditions. As it turned out, we were short on auditioners as another theatre in the area was producing a large-cast show that year. I offered to be Bossy, the cow, if needed, and diligently began to practice mooing. The director subsequently cast me as a little old lady, Old Tyb (which, due to a typo, became old Tub in the program, something I never did live down). I found out that I wasn’t as shy since my costume disguised me well. And I learned that I could not seem to talk unless I was moving my right arm, so old Tyb (or Tub) appeared to have a bit of palsy. The giant in that production was indeed gigantic, tall and large with a wonderful booming voice. The chase scene called for the chased (Jack) to leap off the stage and run up the aisle followed by the giant. In one show, when the giant landed with a resounding “fee-fi-fo-fum” and a heavy thud next to the second row, the little boy on the aisle screamed and proceeded to wet his pants. Ah, the joys of live theatre!! (The giant toned it down a bit in subsequent performances less he frighten away the audience.)

Another kids’ show I was fortunate to be part of was “Cinderella”. I was one of the stepsisters, and the three of us wore huge bustles. Our backs were to the audience during the ball, and we would, together, sway to the music with impressively choreographed bustles. (We eventually became known as the Butt sisters. And proud of it!)

One of my favorite roles was Grovella in “The Tale of Snow White” (adapted for the theatre by Eileen Moushey). I was the evil queen’s handmaiden and chief groveller. The dwarves were named (as I recall) Dilly, Dally, Dodie, three more D-names, and Mel (who was 6 feet tall). When Grovella encountered one of them in the woods, her original line was “Ooh, are you a dwarf?” However, at auditions, she uttered a la (for those of you old enough to remember back in the 80s) the character Stephanie on “Newhart”, “Eeeewww, are you a dorf?!” Not politically correct, of course, but it stuck! Another one I will never live down.

And the last children’s show I did was “Wolf Tales” (also adapted by Eileen Moushey), a combination of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. (Guess who was a pig!) Darla, Marge, and Tiffany — we all wore snouts and snorted frequently. Again, traits that will remain with me forever. It strikes me that this show was the one where the audience got to choose the happy ending (with an “applause-o-meter”). And…the Big Bad Wolf turned out merely to be misunderstood.

Holidays, that magic time! Children, those magic little people! Theatre, where magic is born!

Theatre folk, please feel free to add your memories!